G'day! Pull up a chair! Join me at the kitchen table for a chat...let's toss a few thoughts around about the state of this crazy but wonderful world we inhabit. There's lots to discuss! Make yourself comfortable! Would you like a glass of wine?

Thursday, August 15, 2013

MORE LAGUNA BELLE RAMBLINGS

Whole Moreton Bay Bugs

Everglades, Upper Reaches of the Noosa River

Moreton Bay Bugs in Garlic Butter

My unexpected, unprepared for
first experience at en masse fish and chips’ cooking may have been a lesson
quickly learned; one that was akin to jumping from the frying pan into the hot
oil - to steal a slice of poetic license – but with time ticking away rapidly,
and the shop’s opening time drawing closer by every passing minute, I was faced
with no other choice than to jump, head first, into the fray, come what may; and
worry about it all after the fact!Time
was of the essence.

It may have been a
case of the blind leading the blind, but somehow Jill and I made our way
through without too many casualties, other than that concrete block of potato
chips!It was a lesson well-learned; and
after that, I had no further problems preparing fish and chips for the
masses.Jill refused, as was her
individual right, to step through the doors of the shop again for fear of a
possible future nervous breakdown!

Because the restaurant was the
centre of our attention, our aim and reason for being there was to get "The
Belle" back into the black so we could start paying off the many debts the owner
had incurred.The fish and chips outlet
was put on the back-burner to a degree. I grabbed the fish by the tail, and took over
its operation.The shop was open two
hours during the middle of the day to catch the passing lunch trade.It's doors closed again at 2 pm; and the fryers turned off; and then it was re-opened
for business again at 4 pm until 6 pm.The restaurant opened to the public at 6.30 pm.

The locals soon got to know the shop's operating
hours, so everything began to fall into a satisfactory place.

Originally, when we first took
over "The Belle", the restaurant didn’t open for lunches other than the Sunday lunch
cruises.However, I decided to train
Ken, our chef’s brother and our kitchen-hand in the art of fish and chip
cooking to free up my own time. Ken’s introduction to the fish and chips’ shop
was much calmer than my own. Even though, Ken travelled at a snail’s pace, he
was conscientious and he quickly cottoned onto his newly-added task.His wages were increased accordingly, of
course; so did is speed!His increase in wages was incentive enough in
itself for a young surfer lad!

Ken was happy in his new role. I
think being handed the responsibility and his understanding we believed in him -
that he could do the job - boosted his confidence. He handled himself and the
shop with aplomb.

Also, Ken had somebody to keep
him company.Every morning and afternoon
shortly before opening the shop as he organised and arranged his ingredients,
utensils, switched on the hotplate and deep-fryers etc., like clockwork, a pelican
arrived.The pelican would perch itself
on a mooring posts attached to the jetty just to the rear of the shop. And
there, the beautiful bird would patiently wait, knowing a free feed would soon
fill his bill.

Once Ken was confidently at ease in his new role, the
restaurant again had my full attention.Randall and I decided we’d open "The Belle" one day during the week for
lunch.

Wednesday was our day of choice. We wanted to capture the
local trade as well as the tourists. Locals are the bread and butter, or,
perhaps, the full cup of milk; tourists are the cream on the top; that was our
belief, anyway. I still believe it to be true.The locals are always “there”; tourists are transient.In saying that, I don’t mean that tourists
are of less importance.

For fear of drowning myself here and being in need of a
lifeboat or life-jacket…I shall move on…

Because we’d operated our own real estate agency we knew a
lot of people in different walks of life and businesses in the Noosa area and
its surrounds. Word passed around fairly swiftly that we were managing the
restaurant.The tom-tom drums had
started to do their job; and soon, those who previously had been hesitant to
frequent "The Belle" before our arrival on the scene because of the crazy
behaviour of the owner and his equally crazy daughter began again to bravely
walk the plank onto the floating/cruising restaurant.

Like busy bees we and the staff buzzed around doing what
needed to be done to be ready when the door opened and service began.We all had our jobs; we knew what we had to
do.The tables were always re-set the
night before after the evening guests had left.There is nothing worse than arriving to a mess the morning after,
whether it is the kitchen, the dining area or the cocktail bar. To face a mess
the next day is far worse than being greeted by an unmade bed.At least, a quilt or doona can be pulled up
to cover the untidy sheets beneath, but that is impossible to do in a
restaurant. No matter how busy the night and how tired one felt, the restaurant
had to be cleaned, tidied and tables re-set before leaving for home.

During the day I helped our chef Phil in the kitchen.We’d put our heads together and composed the
menu as I wrote earlier.While he
attended to his own mise en place, I had my corner of the kitchen wherein I
made seafood chowder, a staple on the menu because we were primarily a seafood
restaurant.When purchasing our seafood
supplies from the local seafood wholesaler, I’d buy fish carcasses for making
of the stock to be used in the preparation of the chowder. I did prepare various
other soups, to satisfy the non-fishy diners. There was always a choice of two
soups on the menu. Also, we had a couple
of meat and chicken dishes on our bill of fare to cater for those who perhaps were
allergic to seafood, or for those not in the mood for fish, Moreton Bay Bugs or
prawns on any given night or day; but our menu consisted mostly of seafood
dishes.

When strawberries were in season and supplies were prolific
I made fresh strawberry ice cream generously loaded with whole or halved
strawberries for one of the dessert choices; no ice cream maker was abused
during the making thereof! I prepared all of the desserts, taking the load off
our chef; allowing him to concentrate on most of the entrees and main meals. Once Jill began her shift, she became the
chef’s right hand.

Because I enjoyed cooking and willingly wanted to learn as
much as I could about restaurant cooking a lot of my time during the day was
spent assisting in the preparation.The
rest of the time I acted as hostess, greeting guests on their arrival and
attending to their needs throughout service; and I waited tables; all of which
I enjoyed.I loved the whole “restaurant
experience” from top to bottom, and back again.

As I mentioned previously, Randall tended the bar and all chores pertaining to the bar. He was very efficient at being in charge of the bar as he had managed a bar in New
York’s Upper East Side before returning to Australia.He also competently looked after the
financial side of the business; again, he was very good when it came to
figures, book-keeping, accounts etc. et al; the latter were jobs I had absolutely no interest in at all.

Briefly, during the warmer months of the year in the upper
reaches of the Noosa
River, an area fondly
known as “The Everglades”, freshwater bass ran (or swam) through the tranquil
tannin-stained water. The tea colour is caused by the Paperbark trees that grow prolifically along the banks of the river.

The area, with its mirrored reflections of melaleucas on the
calm water, and its silence broken only by bird sounds makes visitors to The
Everglades respectful of their surrounds.Boat motors are switched off; voices are lowered.

And because of the brief appearance of the bass, for a short
time only we presented their beautiful white fillets on similarly white plates to our diner..The bass was always popular with the
diners.

We didn’t personally catch the bass; we bought our fresh
stock from a local supplier, shortly after it was caught.

However, there were times we did catch fish from “The
Belle”.Sometimes during quiet moments
Randall and/or Phil tossed a baited line out through one of the restaurant or
galley’s windows; and sometimes they got lucky!I can’t say the same for the fish!

Often, a weird noise emanated from the kitchen (a weirder
noise than the usual ones that flowed out of that busy environment inhabited by
a few insane people – I was one of them, of course)!The unusual sounds that raised curious interest
would be thumping and thrashing coming from one of the stainless steel sinks.
It would be proof that a fish had been caught and hauled onto the boat through
whatever window the baited line had been cast.

One Wednesday, moments before we opened the door to the lunch
time trade, Phil hauled on board through a kitchen window, a little estuary Black-spotted Rock cod; it was of
legal size, but only just! The fish was doing a lively dance in the sink as our
first customer arrived.The entrance
door to the restaurant was nearby to the kitchen.Our guest was a man who intended dining alone.

As I greeted him at the door, I noticed he raised his eyebrows
in a quizzical way.The flapping noise
coming from the kitchen was the reason for his querulous look.

With a wide smile across my face, I explained the situation
to our first guest; and after doing so, I asked him, if perhaps, he would like
the freshest fish meal he’d had in many a long day for his lunch.He didn’t hesitate in answering a resounding “Yes!”The chef cleaned and filleted the fish; and
that gentleman felt like a king as he enjoyed his very fresh lunch.He thanked me profusely upon leaving.

I’d willingly lay a bet our diner never forgot his lunch on
the “Laguna Belle” that fine, sunny Wednesday.And I‘d also bet he was not only grateful he’d dined alone that day, but
he was also very thankful he was the first person to set foot on board “The
Belle” at noon. It meant he had the
freshly-landed fish all to himself!

It was very easy to excuse the gloating look upon his face!
He looked like the cat that not only drank the milk and cream – but the fish,
too!

Fresh Strawberry Ice
Cream: Wash
and hull about 40 strawberries; puree into a blender. You should end up with
about 2 cups worth.In bowl, add puree,
¾ cup condensed milk, ¾ cup cream, 1/4 cup evaporated milk and 3 to 4 cups
sugar.Adjust sugar to your taste. Mix
gently with hand blender until well incorporated.Pour mixture into a freezer bowl; freeze 1
hour. After 1 hour, remove from freezer and blend gently in a mixer; freeze
again for 1 hour; repeat this exercise two more times. After the third time,
before freezing add some halved, quartered or whole strawberries, depending on
size; and depending on how many you reckon is a fair quantity, without going to
crazy; mix well; freeze for 7-8 hours

20 comments:

Lucky, lucky guest.My father was a fly fisherman and we followed him along the river bank with a fry pan. When he caught was when we ate - and rainbow trout served less than twenty minutes after being caught is WONDERFUL.I love hearing about your busy, busy past. Thank you.

In days of yore the man in a van used to come from Port Seton at a time when fishing boats still operated along the coats of the Firth of Forth. His fish must have been (mostly) caught overnight. Not that I noticed or cared in those days.

I bet that gentleman still smiles at the thought of that meal. Best fish I ever had was freshly caught trout several years ago, and I can still practically taste it in my memory. Which reminds me, we're having fresh catfish for dinner.

I love Moreton Bay Bugs...I treated myself to some as part of my Christmas lunch last year...between putting up those pics and writing about fish and chips, I'm going through cravings here! I can only blame myself!! lol

"Because the restaurant was the centre of our attention, our aim and reason for being there was to get "The Belle" back into the red so we could start paying off the many debts the owner had incurred."

Um, you-all are really serious about being different down there--aren't you? For to be in the red up here is to be heavily in debt while the goal is to get into the black! (LOL?)

In any event, 'tis was another wonderful account. You really should look into self-publishing a book on the Amazon Kindle platform. It should not cost you anything but your time, and I would be honored to help you in anyway I can.

G'day Janice. It's ages since I've been fishing. I have rods and fishing tackle away to my nephew. I used to love fishing, but I don't get the opportunity to do it now...and I miss that delicious freshly-caught fish!

I'm lucky enough to own a cruising restaurant and bar on the Noosa River! Not as old as the Laguna Belle, the Daintree Lady was built and launched in Cairns in 1986 and some crazy fool sailed her down to Noosa sometime after the collapse of Ansett and the tourist flow to the Daintree.

She runs under the business name Noosa Cruiser now, for obvious reasons, though when I first bought her in 2007, we still had people enquire over Daintree River cruises! I love to regale our dining passengers with stories, history and gossip about the Noosa River as we cruise along. I found your blog whilst searching for stories about the Laguna Belle and was really hoping for some photos of the entire boat, from the shore or the river. Yours was the first full description of how it looked that I've had - so thank you!

Any chance you could send me any photos, please? You're a prolific writer, so I haven't had time to scour everywhere to see if you've already posted some online, but links to any existing online photos instead would also be great.